


Maturation

by Penguiduck



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 15:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21077483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penguiduck/pseuds/Penguiduck
Summary: Gary Oak wants something a bit more than just respect.[Reader x Gary Oak]





	Maturation

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Too often, he found himself the target of the people's frustration. He would fix that.
> 
> This is my response to a fun Mad Libs challenge. Aside from using the Mad Libs prompts, I'm using a "blast from the past" as my inspiration. Childhood crushes are the idea. ;) Gary was never a huge crush, per se, but I always found him more interesting than Ash. lol.
> 
> If you like having your fanfiction requests fulfilled, check out my [500 Kudos Flash Raffle!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20227408/chapters/50075282) I encourage everyone to participate. The deadline is tomorrow, Friday, October 18th! You have one more day to join!

Gary Oak had few friends. He also had a few enemies.

Although an impressive Pokemon trainer, he wasn't the gentlemanly type. He wasn't someone the ladies would invite out to Sunday brunch or over for a night of binging movies. Admittedly, he was kind of awkward. It was like he used his arrogance as a barrier against developing real relationships with anyone other than his precious Pokemon.

He wasn't loathed among the community, per se, because there was talent to back his aloof arrogance. All the same, no one other than his mother and grandfather talked about Gary Oak with pride, not even those from small Pallet Town. He was just another skilled Pokemon trainer. He didn't inspire others or use his gifts for any purpose other than to be the best.

And that was fine. No one vocalized any complaints, though they perhaps thought that Pallet Town may have deserved a better representative.

For his fellow Pokemon trainers, he wasn't well-liked. Respected, perhaps, but no one wanted to be friends with him.

Truth be told, this was a lonely existence. His Pokemon made great companions, but they weren't human, and they would never make good substitutes for human contact.

He would find childhood friends in social places and approach them. They might laugh at his jokes or listen to him tell tales of his grand adventures, but they would inevitably move in another direction, to find something more interesting, to find someone else worth their time.

Gary Oak wanted to change that. He wanted people to see him in a different light. As with anything, he would need to start off slow -- he hated slow. He wanted to hit the ground running, leaving everyone else behind in the dust. Of course, he saw how well that worked out for his relationships when he set off from Pallet Town at age ten. He would have to exercise patience; he would have to learn to empathize with others.

He knew exactly whom to start with -- there was someone who had always been kind to him, never shirking away from his stories of ambitions to be the very best, as repetitive and annoying as they probably were.

Your family lived next to Professor Oak's research laboratory, and you would often come visit to admire the many Pokemon that roamed the lush habitats created just for them. Gary had always taken the opportunity to educate you. From him, you learned that Vulpix kits were born with only one tail, which would eventually split into six as it grew. He once teasingly pulled an Oddish from the ground so you could hear its agitated shrieks before it skipped away. He brought you to the local doctor to see your very first Chansey -- something you had longed to do because pink was your favorite color.

Many years had passed since those days. You were no longer a little girl, nor he a little boy.

He had noticed his maturation every day on his Pokemon journey up until now, but when he finally returned to Pallet Town with his many accolades and badges, he saw you as a young woman in her teenage years. You now helped his grandfather in the laboratory, and you probably knew more about the Pokemon there than he did.

When you saw him, walking down the dusty road with his pack slung over his shoulder, you smiled.

Gary felt as though the sun shined a bit brighter. You were different, and at the same time, just as beautiful as he remembered.

Yes, he figured he would start with you. You were his only human friend, after all, even after all these years.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to draw your attention to my raffle to thank those who have left or will leave future comments on my works: [An Expression of Thanks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20227408/chapters/48579194). If you like raffles and enjoy having your fanfiction requests fulfilled, take a look. ;) I encourage you to check it out! You have through the end of October to participate.
> 
> Follow me on [Tumblr](https://penguiduck.tumblr.com/) for updates and insight on my writing process!


End file.
